Shiki
by Amulet Misty
Summary: It all started with a little shop called Shiki. [IshiHime] (Happy Birthday Lowri!)


**Shiki**

If one were to ask Uryū Ishida where his favourite place to go out to was, he would, with no doubt answer with the shop named 'Shiki'. His mother was a seamstress, so when she needed to stock up on supplies, she would take him along to this very shop. It was a quaint little corner shop, fitting perfectly into Karakura Town's (usually) quieter atmosphere.

There were rows of shelves where all types of thread and yarn of a variety of colours was displayed. Other necessities for the craft, such as needles, pins, and pincushions were also available.

On this occasion, his mother wanted to buy new sewing needles for their sewing machine; according to her, she needed a special type for the next project she was working on.

"What are you going to make next, Mother?" Uryū questioned her, eyes wide and shining.

Smiling gently at her son, Kanae brought a finger to her lips. "It's a surprise."

He was still curious, but wasn't one to press his mother, so he simply nodded.

"I'm going to look to talk to the assistants about the needles, so while I'm doing that, why don't you go pick a few spools of thread for us to buy?" she suggested. "I'll teach you something new when we get home."

"Really?" Unable to hide his excitement, he smiled. "Okay, I'll do that!"

Making his way to the selection of threads, he listed the colours of threads that they already had at home, and that he already had used.

He was only eight and had not learnt how to sew for very long, but he certainly wasn't inept at it. He didn't think so himself, but his mother went so far as to say he had a natural knack for it, just like her. He wouldn't say so to her, but he had been happy when he was told he shared a hobby with his mother, who he adored so much.

Blue was one of his favourite colours, and one that he liked using to experiment with the most. Perhaps he should pick a different shade this time, or restock on one that was running out. "What colour should I get...?" He muttered to himself.

"Pink!"

"I guess pink isn't a bad colour but it would depend on what kind - huh?" Who said that?

Looking away from the display in front of him, he realised a girl was standing next to him. He didn't notice her walk up to him at all. She looked around his age - eight- and had orange hair that fell just above her shoulders.

"I think you should choose pink," she repeated with a wide grin.

"O-oh." That was sincerely all he could come up with, not sure how to respond to the sudden start in conversation.

"See, I'm trying to make a stuffed animal, and I'm choosing pink," she declared, pointing at the spool of thread she was referring to.

"I see," he said. "...Um, so what animal are you making?" If she was talking about pink animals, the first to come to mind was a flamingo. He couldn't really think of many other pink ones.

"I'm trying to make a crocodile!"

He wondered if he was pulling her leg, but then the unfaltering smile on her face told him otherwise.

"Crocodiles aren't pink," he said, slightly confused.

" _My_ crocodile is going to be pink - no one said they can't be pink," said the girl in reply. "You see, the crocodile's name is Lucy, and she lives in an enchanted river. Her best friend is fish called Steve. Since she's a crocodile though, none of the other fish go near her and Steve's family try to forbid him from going to play with her."

It was a fair five minutes later, when Uryū realised that he had been completely indulged in this girl's story. To be completely honest, he didn't really think it made sense, but something about her made him want to hear more.

"- and Steve slayed the demon lord, and they lived happily ever after."

As odd as it was, he found that he felt disappointed when she finished. "That was an...interesting story."

"Thank you! Glad you liked it. Most of my friends tell me my stories are weird."

Well, he wouldn't say they were wrong, but he did actually find the story fascinating.

She hummed as she hopped up and grabbed the light pink spool of thread she wanted. He watched quietly as she rocked on the balls of her feet, inspecting the spool at different angles, as if it might be different from side to another.

It then occurred to him that it was the girl herself, rather than just her stories, that he was fascinated with.

"You know what, on second thought, maybe you shouldn't pick pink," she said, crossing her arms and tilting her head. "If we're both making crocodiles I don't think there's enough magic in the river for both of them to be pink"

Uryū never said he was going to make a stuffed animal (let alone one that was a crocodile), but he nodded anyway.

At that moment he wondered what her name was. He opened his mouth, about to ask, when the girl shouted and waved her arms.

"Sora! I've got the thread!" She skipped towards a tall man, her brother, presumably, since she looked a bit like him, and he looked too young to be her father.

Feeling a little deflated, he watched as she made her purchase. Before they left the shop, however, she looked straight at him, with a small wave at him. He managed to give her wave back, the tiniest of smiles on his face.

"Was that a friend of yours?"

He almost jumped - people kept sneaking up on him today. "No, she..." She wasn't anyone, really. "She was picking out thread, too."

"Have you chosen yours?" She asked, seeming to notice his empty hands.

"Y-yes." He glanced at the selection for only a second before grabbing a spool, starting to walk towards the counter first.

"I thought you'd choose blue again," Kanae said as they walked through the door out.

"Just wanted a bit of a change," he said, not wanting to admit he hadn't paid too much attention to what he picked.

"Hm..." His mother smile suggested that she had seen through him completely. He really couldn't fool her. "So, what would you like me to teach you."

He considered this for a little bit, before deciding.

"Can you teach me how to make a stuffed animal?"

xxxxx

These first years were really obnoxious, Uryū decided. Even after he had explicitly told them 'no', they had decided to show up at his doorstep to 'celebrate the Handicrafts Club's president's birthday'. To make matters worse, Orihime had come along too. His heart was not ready for this, but he couldn't turn her away. Especially since she had baked a cake (which he would later get sick from, but that was another story).

Having no choice but to let them in. He was thankful that though his apartment was small, at least it was clean and tidy, and he didn't have anything embarrassing lying around.

"Ooh! Prez, did you, like, make this?"

Except for that.

His junior was holding the first stuffed animal that he made and kept in his room. "You went into my room?" He twitched, now regretting having taken it with him to his current apartment.

The question went ignored as the other members, who were sitting cross legged around a small table in the centre of the small living room looked to see what she was holding.

The toy got passed to another member, who squished it. "This is pretty good, but it's not as great as the things you have now, Prez. How old is this thing?"

"If you must know," he said, pushing up his glasses. "I made it when I was eight. It's the first plush I made, so of course it's a little shabby."

"So you've known Inoue since you were eight?"

"We met in high school, why would you think that-"

His heart almost stopped.

Orihime was holding his stuffed animal now. In her hands it was glaringly obvious that the plush fish was the exact same colour as her hair.

While Orihime seemed distracted by the plush, the other members were all shooting him knowing grins.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." He sat down, covering his face with a hand, a memory coming back to him.

All this time he had thought that her hair colour just reminded him of Steve (yes, he actually named it that) but as the memory returned to him, it had been the other way around all along.

"Unrequited for almost ten years? Club Prez, sure has some endurance!"

While not completely accurate, Uryū couldn't be find it within himself to rebutt the statement. He underestimated the perceptiveness of his juniors. It couldn't be normal to instantly assume that he would model a plush after Orihime, especially when he hadn't realised it himself. They all sewed, so of course he should have expected that their attention to detail was great. That or his crush on Orihime was just that blatantly obvious.

"Shh, okay guys, let's stop teasing Prez on his birthday, and yes I'm looking at you, Misaki. Let's get this cake cut!" His noisy members got up to dig around his kitchen for cutlery, leaving only Orihime and Uryū behind.

Fortunately for him, Orihime didn't comment about their junior's 'ten years' jab, either because she hadn't really heard it, or pretended not to have.

"You know," she said, smiling widely. "I've got a stuffed crocodile called Lucy at home. I think she would be friends with this little one here."

"Is that so?" He returned her smile.

"Yup. I think they'd be really good friends. Like us!"

He wasn't sure if she also remembered their encounter in the shop, all those years ago, or even the story she had told him, but he recalled that the two animals had been dubbed best friends by her.

The eight year old Uryū never thought he would see this girl again, let alone be considered a close friend to her.

A tranquil kind of warmth spread in his chest, and he thought maybe this wasn't a bad way to spend his birthday after all.

X

* * *

 **A/N: My first Bleach fic has to be IshiHime, of course. And what better way to debut but by writing a gift fic for our very own ship's fanfic captain, Lowri. Yes, I have dubbed you the captain of this ship in my eyes. -shot-**

 **I was conflicted over the name usage for them because I call him Ishida but I went Lowri style and sticked with the English version xD Other things I stole from Lowri include Kanae's occupation. Also, random western names for the stuffed animals, 'cause why not. Okay fine, I just think it'd be hilarious if he had a plush fish called Steve. Also 'Shiki' means thread in japanese so whaddup. And if you're wondering, yes this is to counter your mini-Uryu fic which gave me angst so I did one where Kanae is alive to neautralise the angst (lol)**

 **If it seems a bit rushed, it probably was, cause I started and finished today. If there are any mistakes just let me know and I'll change it later. Hopefully there's nothing inconsistent with the canon ( _but don't bet on it -cough-)._ Not sure how I did with characterisation either, but I hope that you still liked it. Happy Birthday i.e Lowri Day!**

- **Dina (1/6/2015)**

 **[Also, on the super small chance that any of my TWEWY readers read this then...I'll get back to my other fics...eventually...I promise. At least you still technically get 'Shiki' and sewing and even stuffed animals...just not cat (pig) ones . I even used the surname Misaki for the lolz. Haha, geddit? -gets tomatoes thrown at me-. ]**


End file.
